


An Ocean of Sorrow Does Nobody Drown

by theosymphany



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: After Skyhold, Alternate Universe, C-Virus, Cross canon, Crossover, Fade Rifts, M/M, Resident Evil 6/ Dragon Age Inquisition, Romance, The Anchor (Dragon Age), dark future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 20:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9459680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theosymphany/pseuds/theosymphany
Summary: Piers Nivans had given all he had. By the power of the C-virus within and his sacrifice, Haos is dead. Chris is safe. All is over.Yet It wasn't over. The power, the anchor is part of him now. He has another world to save.He has seen a year into the future. Whether he likes it or not, he is the Herald of Andraste. The Inquisitor.There must be a connectivity between his the C-virus, his sparks and magical aptitude, the anchor, the fade, time magic.There must be a way back home.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Dorian, DAI setting and associated characters belongs to Bioware. Piers Nivans, Chris Redfield and associated characters and settings belong to Capcom.

**1\. Cross veil and into the valley of dreams**

He saw it again.

The dulled, grey skies of doom were tinged with an oppressive crimson. Flashes of blinding lightning pulsed irregularly with the aches of his arm. An intangible voice called out to him. An outstretched hand reached out to him.

“Piers!”

His arm throbbed as he felt the burn of the anchor again. The surge of power coursed through sinews and veins with an untamed ferocity far beyond his imagination. It stang, and it hurt, but it was part of him now.

Whatever had happened to him, he is here to stay.

Running his fingers over his arm, a feeling so familiar, yet so foreign, Piers sighed, got up from his unbelievably large bed and got himself a drink of water from the nightstand.

The first rays of the morning had already whispered their greeting. As was his custom in a previous life as a sniper, he watched from his tower the unfamiliar yet comforting structures lighting up around him. Solid stonework stretching for seemingly miles across an otherwise old and forlorn mountain pass.

The dawn has come… to Skyhold.

He wrapped a soft scarf around his neck to ward the morning chills, standing on the balcony to drink in the first rays of the sun, grateful that the darkness and the clouds are, for now, dispelled.

Twice now he has seen the end. Or was it three time? Three life times, all so different, and yet all so connected.

He would have rolled his eyes, feigned a laugh and told anyone they’d be out of their minds if they insisted that magic and sorcery exists.

But it’s not funny anymore. His own abilities attest to that.

He was gifted. Sure. He was Piers Nivans, first lieutenant of the BSAA. He was the youngest sniper and officer to join the US SOF. He was the renowned marksman and ace who have fought for a number of years in the fight against bioterrorism with the best of the best. Now? Probably MIA, presumed dead after the Lanshiang incident when he willingly embraced the C-virus’ power to snatch the world, and his beloved Captain back from the brink of destruction.

He gave it his life and limb. His humanity. His deep love for the man he had held in his heart. He threw his future away to ensure his Captain will live.

But it wasn’t the end. No. It was much confusion. He still doesn’t know which life he had was real and which was the nightmare.

He awoke in the heart of chaos. A voice calling out to him. The darkness. The vortex. The thundering, glowing orb that beckoned to him.

He remembered the power that had surged from his fingertips before his mind was completely clear, and now the anchor is part of him.

Of all things. The mutilation and the doom had to be the common denominator.

They tell him he is Piers, male heir to a major line in House Trevelyan. He is wielder of the mark, adept of thunder, lightning and rift magic. They mistook his naivety to conventional forms of magic as power. They mistook his disregard of the societal norms, religious rituals and hierarchy as leadership. They mistook his desire to make sense of the world and find a way home a calling. Some called him the Herald of Andraste. Others, the Inquisitor.

Inquisitor Piers Trevelyan.

He was grateful for his military officer training in secrecy, camouflage and deduction. The art of blending in. The craft of commandeering trust and loyalty through leading by example. Of building a team that was more than a team in a way even Commander Cullen found bewildering .

He sought answers the only way he knew. Through the books and records across the realm. He had spoken to Solas, the bearer of ancient wisdom of course, and Cassandra, the closest thing to of a figurehead in the Chantry who believed in him despite having every reason not to. Their conversations were unnerving. He had to watch every word, to trust no one with his biggest secret, and pretend he knew what he was doing, because by the Maker, everyone else thought he did.

He glanced to his wrist as was his custom only to remember he had no watch. It would have been 0600 by now. Time for study and reflection. He was hungry for knowledge. Knowledge of everything- the tales of the old Gods, of Andraste, of the Maker; of magic, healing, the blight, history and lore of the strange realm of Thedas. Of the rifts and what lies beyond. More eagerly, he searched for answers for where they open up to.

They say rifts connect Thedas to the Fade, and the Fade connect to all other worlds.

Just in case there was a chance to return to his previous life. To his first love.

Captain Chris Redfield.

“You know, some days I wonder whether it is a thirst for knowledge or thirst for my charm that keeps bringing you to the library first thing in the morning.”

Piers jolted from surprise, but quickly recovered as the friendly but ever inquisitive voice interrupted him from his thoughts.

“I’m sure a magister with the talent of yours didn’t get to where you are without serious study.” Piers replied, holding his gaze over the Tevinter renegade.

“Oh study. Well yes of course. The Magisterium of Tevinter would regale many a young acolyte with the stories of how legends of the ages grew to power in the familiar surrounds of books and lore. On the contrary, it’s a proud theory of mine actually that much study leads to much corruption. We saw in my master what good too much study did.” He smiled, shifting the curls of his moustache pleasantly upwards.

“So tell me, wise Dorian, why is it that all geniuses of the world only sought to control and destroy?”

“Well obviously not all geniuses, pleasant company excluded.” He pointed to Piers and himself. “Great minds see a world as a canvas devoid of their seal, a kingdom devoid of their benevolence. Greater mind see it for what it is- a place to study and observe, and to leave to its own. Why else would the Gods be content with silent observation?”

“The magic of this world- I mean that wielded by your Magisters, they… intimidate me. To think of that world you and I were transported into- that we could in the blink of an eye cross the boundaries of time, to stare doom in the face, to see the full force of evil unleashed…” Piers paused, remembering the visions that only he and Dorian had shared of the future. It was a world too grim, too haunting, even for a veteran of bioterrorism like he was.

Above all, there was nobody else he could speak to it of- there were no other survivors. His companions in the future had given their lives away to bring them back.

It’s not just his mission now.

“Yes. Time magic.” Dorian said, lowering his voice to a hallowed whisper. “It is the reality but you and I share. Have no doubt that every part of that was real, and could still be real if we keep making the wrong choices today and tomorrow.”

“Have you… ever heard of magic taking someone somewhere. Like to another realm? Another world?”

“Interesting question. We’ve travelled through time and yet you seem concerned more about travelling through, well, space. I presume it’s possible of course. After all, mages can travel into the Fade, and demons travel through the Fade into our world. Then there’s all these rifts that open up around us. They definitely lead to somewhere, if not leading somewhere to here.”

“But where?” Piers asked.

“It will not matter where. If one has spent all their life in Ferelden, then be it Orlais, Anderfels or Tervinter, it would all be equally foreign, it’s simply ‘not’ Ferelden. If we go beyond this realm and the fade into the next, does it matter where we are as long as it is… different?”

“Well, yes, I mean, perhaps. But what if, what if there are parallel realities, and parallel worlds that exist alongside to our own, and some days our paths intersect and one goes to another?”

“A most interesting proposition! I wouldn’t have thought anyone outside of Tervinter could comprehend, even postulate a topic like this. You do impress me constantly, most capable Inquisitor.” Dorian paused, smiling warmly at Piers.

He continued. “Well, suppose I arrived into a world where I wield great power compare to its inhabitants, what do you think will happen?”

“You’d amaze them. They’ll be in awe…you’d be… worshipped as a God, even with all your fire and necromancy. Wait… surely you don’t mean…”

“It’s a crazy theory, but sometimes I feel that the so call ‘Gods’ we worshipped, be they old Gods, the Elven Gods, or even the Maker, they could have just been foreigners who ventured into our realm by chance, or by plan. Maybe some stayed here, trapped, and some made their way back out in time. Everyone would have wanted to go home eventually, however great the exultation and glory bestowed on them.

“That’s why we don’t hear of them anymore. The elves believe their Gods are in the Fade, or the Beyond. The Chantry believes the Maker has turned away because of the faults of creation. I sometimes think they simply left, and went back to the place where they called home, leaving behind a cult of hopeful followers wishing too to escape from their mortal conscience.”

“Home.” Piers sighed wistfully, leaning himself on the rail overlooking the staircase.

“Is our Inquisitor homesick?” Dorian smirked. “I suppose the Free Marches is a long way from here. Ferelden is so incredibly dull and the Orlesians so pretentious that as great as Skyhold is, it’s not perfect.”

“I… I don’t even know where home is.” Piers said, looking back at the vast tomes across the library. The answer has to be there somewhere.

“There’s something I read about home. For some it’s where we’re born, for some it’s where we happen to be, and for others it’s simply where they feel they belong.”

“Yes. Where I come from we have a saying- home is where the heart is.” Piers said.

“Home is where the heart is…” Dorian repeated slowly, and his eyes lit up. “But of course! So elegant and succinct. People expect me to call Tervinter home, but to be honest I’ve missed it less than most, even now, for example, I’d say Skyhold is far more of a home to me, because... of duty and mission, and well…” He paused for a moment to steal a glance at Piers, but continued quickly “because my purpose is here. We have to mend the rifts, put an end to Coryphus. And you ain’t gonna manage that without another capable mage at your side.” He smiled again.

The sudden gentleness in Dorian’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Piers’ keen eyes, but he feigned oblivion.

His mind was blank racing for a retort, and he could only blurt out the one thing on his mind, together with that wistful smile he has whenever he thinks of the Captain.

_“I have a job to do, and I’m gonna see it through.”_

[](http://imgur.com/GH8k63I)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a bit of headcanon I had playing Inquisitor Piers Trevelyan. There's lots of parallels between both characters. I don't have time to make this a full blown series, so this will be a one shot for now, and future snapshots, perhaps. These stories are less about what happens and more about how they influence our characters. You can fill in the blanks. Hope you enjoyed it!


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